October 24, 2007

A supporter of former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney (R), Susan Henken of Dover, Mass., wrote her own $2,300 check, and her 13-year-old son, Samuel, and 15-year-old daughter, Julia, each wrote $2,300 checks, for example. Samuel used money from his bar mitzvah and money he earned "dog sitting," and Julia used babysitting money to make the contributions, their mother said. "My children like to donate to a lot of causes. That's just how it is in my house," Henken said.

Nice to see someone raising her kids to be all high-minded and generous. Because, you know, in some families, people cheat and lie.

Elrick Williams's toddler niece Carlyn may be one of the youngest contributors to this year's presidential campaign. The 2-year-old gave $2,300 to Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).

So did her sister and brother, Imara, 13, and Ishmael, 9, and her cousins Chan and Alexis, both 13. Altogether, according to newly released campaign finance reports, the extended family of Williams, a wealthy Chicago financier, handed over nearly a dozen checks in March for the maximum allowed under federal law to Obama.

Such campaign donations from young children would almost certainly run afoul of campaign finance regulations, several campaign lawyers said.

In 1993, I was 13 years old. The Better Way Club (Dave Obey's campaign contribution Club) was going to host a $500 per event in the Fall. It included meeting and, as I later found out, having discussions with the First Lady. I spent a lot of time that summer mowing lawns to earn the money to go with my parents. It might not be $2,100, but I bet inflation makes it about $1,000+ now. My point - this isn't exactly inconceivable. The fact that the woman is so open about it leads me to beleive it has at least a modicum of truth to it.